In a message dated 95-10-25 19:13:34 EDT, you write:

>     Now, if I remeber correctly, isnt the Dedham
>     Comunity Theater a little remote for most (bad) art lovers?? I mean
>     it's not even on a public transport route!! The irony of the place is
>     brillinat, but who will ever go and see it?? Certainly not the
>     conservative working class communities of West Rpxbury and Dedham!!

Well it isn't downtown Boston but its certainly on a publc transit route.
 You would be suprised at the audience.  At all previous MOBA exhibitions we
have had as broad based an audience (in terms of age, background, education)
as you will see at nearly any museum.

>     Are you SERIOUS about the Today show on Oct. 30th? As in Katie
>     Couric's national NBC show??

Yes, that's the one.

>     On a more genral note, WHAT IS MOBA, how did it start, what are some
>     of your collections highlights?? We all get the humor, but are curious
>     to know more about what MOBA really is.

It started the night Scott Wilson (now our esteemed curator) pulled a
spectacular portrait from a trash pile.   The painting, entitled "Lucy In The
Field Will Flowers" shows a stern old woman sitting (or is she floating) in a
field against a flourescent yellow sky.

We started by doing exhibitions in the basement of our home in West Roxbury
in 1992.   The collection and the audience quickly grew.  Last year we formed
a group called the Friends Of MOBA that is now the backbone of the
organization and its events.

Last January we realized that we had outgrown our small basement gallery and
so we  held one final exhibition there entitled "Bright Colors/Dark Emotions
- the works of Unknown".  Everyone who came to the exhibition was invited to
become a character in a very large Virtual Museum Of Bad Art that would be
built to house the collection.   Each participant created and performed their
own characters (via audio interviews).  We then built a virtual museum on
CD-ROM to contain the entire MOBA collection and all the characters.  By the
time it was completed in June it had expanded way beyond our original idea.
 The Virtual MOBA has 26 rooms - galeries, offices, gardens, cafe, gift shop,
rest rooms, restoration shop etc., the entire MOBA collection as of June1
(about 60 paintings) and 92 characters all performed by Friends Of MOBA from
around the Boston area.

Since the release of the CD-ROM in July the collection, has only been seen at
special events.  Among them:

* July - CD-ROM Release Party and Exhibition at Cybersmith in Cambridge MA.

* Aug - MOBA Gallery In The Woods - The entire collection was transported to
the woods of Wellfleet in Cape Cod and hung  from the swaying pines for a
black tie alfresco gala event.

* Sept - "Know what you like / paint how you feel" Exhibition at Montserrat
College of Art in Beverly MA.

* Oct - Battle Of The Museum Titans, The Bad vs The Fine.  The Museum Of Bad
Art challenged Boston's other art museum (The Museum Of Fine Arts) to a
softball game for the arts on Boston Common - as a benefit for Boston Film *
Video Foundation.  The game was cancelled at the last moment due to a
scheduling foul-up with the city's Parks Dept. but will be rescheduled for
the spring.

* Oct 30 - MOBA's permanent gallery will open in the basement of the Dedham
Community Theater, conveniently located miles from the center of Boston.  The
gala opening night festivities begin at 7:30 PM.

MOBA's mission is "to bring the worst of art to the widest of audiences".  To
that end,  we publish the MOBA News, an electronic newsletter (subscribe by
sending a request to [log in to unmask]).   We also display a selection of
our paintings on the world wide web at:
     http://mirror.wwa.com/mirror/orgs/moba/moba.htm

Our collection consists of works that would never hang in any other museum.
 They are all original works of art that have been executed with all the
enthusiasm and integrity of great art.   Despite the fact that in each piece,
something has gone wrong  there is still something that reaches out and
touches you (or grabs you by the throat and won't let go) - "art too bad to
be ignored".

MOBA's charter is to collect, preserve, exhibit and celebrate these unique
works and we will continue to work tirelessly in the service of these noble
goals.

Thanks for your interest.  I hope that I have answerered your questions.

Sincerely,

Jerry Reilly
Executive Director
Museum Of Bad Art
"All art starts with bad art"



their own character Over the next five months, 92 Friends Of MOBA
The collection has grown to about
>     Sincerely,
>
>
>     Brian Martin
>     UCLA
>     [log in to unmask]
>
>
>